Cable cutter



June 11, 1946.

A. A. KOTTMAN N CABLE GUITER Filed Sept. 19, 1941 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented June 11, 1946 UNITED STAT ES PATENT O FFIC E.

"2,402,057 CABLE CUTTER Arthur A, Kottrnann, Davenport, Iowa, assignor.

by mesne assignments, to Ihe Bettendorf Company; a corporation of Maryland A p icat on Se emb r 1 1 41.. Serial o- 9 Claims.

Th s. n entlonre at s to a cu ter f v in mine m or ng cables or he. p da t d to be m nted a c ravans nd attach t a w Iii-re. Or hich i a ap e to be at a h d at ts fo ward and. r a nds. to ea n and trai n tow lines, the cutter being so towed that a mine anchoring cable engaged by a leading tow line is guided into the jaws of the cutter.

Heretofore, cutters of the, character referred to have been provided with forwardly diverging cable receiving jaws having opposed hardened steel saws rigidly attached thereto for cutting the mooring cable as the cable is drawn by its tension against the teeth of the converging saws. Such cutters have been found to be effective for wire strand, ropes or cables but are not efiective for severing mooring cables in the form of chains composed of hardened steel links.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a cutter which is effective for severing hardened steel chains as well as wire ropes or cables.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cable cutter which has longer life by reason of the fact that it is provided with rotatably mounted cutter blades which are adapted to present different sets of teeth to successive cables Which are cut by hem- A further object is to provide cutters which re adjust e o ro ide n hts of ry ng Widths sui able fo th pa ticular in of mo r ng c bl employed in the particular mine field being swept. With the above and other Objects in view, the invention may be said to comprise the cable cutter s l ustrated in th a c mp n d a ing e inafter described and particularly set forth in the appended claims together with such variations and modifications thereof as will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the cutter embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line indicated as 2--2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing a cutter of slightly modified form;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line indicated ass-4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section taken'on the line indicated as 5-5 in Fig. 3;

Referring to the accompanying drawing, the cutter of the present invention has a rigid body formed of two symmetrical right and left-hand sections l and 2 rigidly secured togethed face to face by means of bolts 3;

The sections l and 2 may be in the form of castings having their opposed faces machined to provide abutting faces. The cutter body is fo med o. Pr id rear v wa j w provided at its forward end with a eye a to] which a tow cable may be attached and the] second eye I is provided at the rear end of the cutter to which a traili g tow Gable may bent.

ta hed- T e ja is a so ro ided w t la erally projecting bolt receiving lugs 8, by means of which it may be rigidly attached to aparavane Re rring ar cu a o s 1 an 2 i h dra n t e nn r faces of e ion I a d 2 ar r bet lo he nne ed e, o h law 4 pr vide a h n el o eiv a ar ned st l cutter bar In which is rigidly attached to the jaw 4 b eansof b l s T es ion and? have veled e g s '2 time e. nner dge of t e law 4 and t e. ut ar I ha be e d ed es wh ch, ta r to a Shar c ttin ed e hi h i ovi ed with s a notches l he n er fa e the sect ns I n 2 e ces sed to provide channels H5 in the jaw 5 to receive circular disc cutters I6 and l'l. The circular disc cutters l6 and I! have beveled edges w i p v d h p p rip e a cu tin e g s which are opposed to the cutting edge of the ut r b T e ut n edges o he d sc l6 and l! are provided with spaced notches I9 and the portions of the jaw 5 which over-lie the discs have beveled edges 28.

The disc cutters l6 and l| are rotatable upon eccentric central portions 3! of shafts 2; which are mounted in registering apertures formed in the sections I and 2, each shaft-.22 being adapted to be locked in different positions of angularadjustment by means of a cotterpin 23 engageable in radial grooves 24 in the body of the cutter to adjust the disc cutter toward or away from the cutter bar In, to vary the width of the bight between the disc cutter and cutter bar. The portions of the sections l and 2 across the space between the rear ends of the jaws 4 and 5 have beveled edges which provide a relatively sharp abutment 25 over which the partially severed mooring cable is bent if it has not been completely out or broken apart in passing between the cutters. The arrangement of cutters above described is particularly advantageous for the severing of the hardened steel chains. For severing chains, the cutter discs l6 and l! are preferably so adjusted as to partially sever a link of the chain which passes between these discs and the cutter bar Ill. The partially severed link, if not broken apart while it is gripped between the cutter disc l1 and cutter bar I9 is brought into engagement with the abutment 25 after it passes between the cutters, and the pull of the cutter against the chain causes the partially severed link to bend over the acute angle abutment 25 and break. The forward disc cutter I6 is pref erably spaced somewhat farther away from the cutter bar In than the rear disc cutter l1, so that the cable is partially cut by the forward disc and the cut is then deepened by the rear disc l1. If the cable is not completely severed by the discs, it is broken by bending over the abutment 25.

In Figs. 3 to 5 of the drawing, a slightly modified arrangement of cutting elements is shown. At the forward ends of jaws 4 and 5, short cutting bars 26 and 21 are rigidly attached and rearwardly of the cutting bars 26 and 21 two opposed cutter discs 28 and 29 are mounted. The discs 28 and 29 are mounted upon eccentric shafts in the same manner as the discs [6 and I! above described so that the width of the bight between them may be varied. The cutting edges of the bars 26 and 21 converge rearwardly so that a cable passing between the bars 26 and 21 may be partially severed before it is engaged by the rotary discs 23 and 29. After passing between discs 28 and 29, the cable, if not completely severed, engages a knife edge 25a extending across the space between the rear ends of the jaws 4 and 5.

As in the modification of the invention first described, the mooring cable passes through plurality of cutter bights of decreasing width and if not completely severed by the cutters is finally bent over the knife edge 25a where it is cut or broken apart.

The present invention provides a mooring cable cutter which is readily adjustable for different cable sizes and different cable constructions. The cutter bars and discs are easily removable and replaceable after they become dull or damaged in use. The adjustable rotating cutter of the present invention is particularly advantageous for severing hardened steel chains since it is possible to so adjust the cutter as to notch a chain link to a depth such that it will be broken by the pull on the cable either while it is gripped between thecutters or when it is bent over the rear end of the cable receiving slot.

It is to be understood that variations and modifications of the specific devices herein shown and described for purposes of illustration, may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A mooring cable cutter comprising a body member having a forwardly flaring slot providing spaced jaws, one of which has means at its forward end for attachment to a tow line, said jaws being adapted to receive a mooring cable between them, relatively adjustable cutters carried by said jaws and a forwardly facing acute angled abutment which is between the rear ends of said jaws.

2. A mooring cable cutter comprising a body member having a forwardly flaring slot providing spaced jaws, one of which has means at its forward end for attachment to a tow line, said jaws being adapted to receive a mooring cable between them, an elongated cutter bar rigidly attached to one jaw, and a plurality of rotatably mounted disc cutters carried by the other jaw and disposed with their cutting edges opposed to the cutting edge of said cutter bar.

3. A mooring cable cutter comprising a body member having a forwardly flaring slot providing spaced jaws, one of which has means at its forward end for attachment to a tow line, said jaws being adapted to receive a mooring cable between them, a forwardly facing acute angled abutment between the rear ends of said jaws, a cutter bar carried by one jaw and a rotary disc cutter carried by the other jaw, said disc G itter 4 being mounted for adjustment toward and away from said cutter bar.

4. A mooring cable cutter comprising a body member having a forwardly flaring slot providing spaced jaws, one of which has means at its forward end for attachment to a tow line, said jaws being adapted to receive a mooring cable between them, an elongated cutter bar attached to one jaw, and a pair of rotary disc cutters attached to the other jaw one in advance of the other with their cutting edges opposed to the cutting edge of the elongated cutter bar, the rear disc being disposed closer to the cutter bar than the forward disc.

5. A mooring cable cutter comprising a body member having a forwardly flaring slot providing spaced jaws, one of which has means at its forward end forattachment to a tow line, said jaws being adapted to receive a mooring cable between them, an elongated cutter bar attached to one jaw, and a pair of rotary disc cutters attached to the other jaw one in advance of the other with their cutting edges opposed to the cutting edge of the elongated cutter bar, the rear disc being disposed closer to the cutter bar than the forward disc and a forwardly facing acute angled abutment rearwardly of said cutters disposed across the space between the rear ends of said jaws.

6. A mooring cable cutter comprising a body member having a forwardly flaring slot providing spaced jaws, one of which has means at its forward end for attachment to a tow line, said jaws being adapted to receive a mooring cable between them, cutter bars, rigidly attached to the forward ends of said jaws and having opposed cutting edges which converge rearwardly, and opposed rotatably mounted disc cutters mounted on said jaws rearwardly of said cutter bars.

'7. A mooring cable cutter comprising a body member having a forwardly flaring slot providing spaced jaws, one of which has means at its forward end for attachment to a tow line, said jaws being adapted to receive a mooring cable between them, cutter bars rigidly attached to the forward ends of said jaws and having opposed cutting edges which converge rearwardly, and opposed rotatably mounted disc cutters mounted on said jaws rearwardly of said cutter bars, said disc cutters being relatively adjustable to vary the width of the bight between them.

8. A mooring cable cutter comprising a body member having a forwardly flaring slot providing spaced jaws, one of which has means at its forward end for attachment to a tow line, said jaws being adapted to receive a mooring cable between them, cutter bars rigidly attached to the forward ends of said jaws and having opposed cutting edges which converge rearwardly, opposed rotatably mounted disc cutters rearwardly of said cutter bars and a knife edge rearwardly of the disc cutters disposed across the space between the rear ends of said jaws.

9. A mooring cable cutter comprising a body member having a forwardly flaring slot providing spaced jaws, one of which has means at its forward end for attachment to a tow line, said jaws being adapted to receive a mooring cable between them, opposed rotatably mounted disc cutters carried by said jaws, said cutters being adjustable to vary the width of the bight between them, and a forwardly facing knife edge rearwardly of said cutters and extending across the space-between the rear ends of said jaws.

ARTHUR A. KOTTMANN. 

